For all of us in the Doberman community, the wait for the trial in Chester County to decide the fate of the 116 Dobermans confiscated from a puppy mill has been incredibly painful. Doberman Rescues from up and own the east coast took in many of these dogs, cared for their wounds both physical and emotional and hoped and prayed that these dogs would never go back to Hung Iron Kennels, and that Jordon Johnson would get what he deserved. We finally have closure.
The court ruled that Jordon Johnson will not be getting his dogs back. Unfortunately, he only received 90 days probation, which is far less than all of us who have spent this time caring for hi dogs feel he deserves, but we do take solace in the fact that not a single one of these Dobermans will have to live that life again.
Now that we are allowed to speak out about the dogs we took in, we want to share with you our 4. Luckily, the physical conditions of the three females and one male we took in were not severe, though ALL required medical attention for fresh scars, worms, and skin and eye infections. All four have incredibly bad teeth with teeth worn down from chewing on metal, and others had teeth missing or with serious cavities. Luckily none of them had heart worms as Johnson was giving them ivermectin.
Troy
Troy, one of the GDR Rescues from the South Carolina Puppy Mill bust
One of the GDR rescues from the puppy mill bust, Stormy.[/caption]Troy, one of the GDR Rescues from the South Carolina Puppy Mill bust[/caption]When Troy arrived, he had to be carried everywhere. He was so incredibly terrified, that he would not move. 90lbs of shaking Doberman. Initially, we were only to take 3 of the dogs, but Troy would be the only one left at the shelter, so we took him too. Troy, along with Stormie was transported to a vet nearby our President’s home. She was able to meet them up there and take pictures of their arrival for the courts. Troy had to be carried. He stayed at the vet for about a week to make sure he was healthy, and then he moved to a nearby boarding facility. He was still so scared he relieved himself in the car on the way over. The facility is not a typical kennel and he lived in his own room with furniture and received plenty of attention from the staff there, all who fell in love with him. In the weeks he spent in boarding, he started to open up, little by little and learn to trust people. He is still quite fearful of men, but adores women and does well with older children. He is a lovable goofball that has taken to collecting shoes. He has had a dramatic transformation during his time with us, and we are thrilled that we can now work on finding him his forever home.
Stormie
One of the GDR rescues from the puppy mill bust, Stormy.
Stormie has clearly been the target of many a fight. Her ears are torn, and she came into rescue with several scars. She is very nervous around people, and it takes a soft voice and a lot of patience to get her to be comfortable around people. Bay Creek Kennels in Loganville offered to take her for a few weeks for us at no charge while we worked out a more long term foster for her. With their decades of Doberman experience (they are home to Pamelot Dobermans) we knew that it would be a place Stormie would be cared for. She started to come out of her shell little by little, but once she got into rescue is when she truly blossomed. With 2 male Dobermans to show her the ropes, she learned what it means to play and what inside luxuries are like. Eventually she learned to cuddle and sleep in bed with the rest of the crew. Her foster family has since decided that she absolutely cannot leave them, and we agree. We are excited that Stormie has found her forever home.
Caroline and Annalee
Caroline and Annalee were both taken into the same foster home. As a blue, Caroline’s coat was in worse shape than the others and she required a number of anti fungals and medicated baths to try and relieve her of her infections. She also had an eye infection that needed attention and was mildly dehydrated, and underweight with a number of fresh scars. Annalee had an upper respiratory infection but her skin was in better condition with it mostly being dry, though still with a number of scars on her head, legs and abdomen. Both were put on antibiotics and treated over the course of the months in rescue.
Both Caroline and Annalee slept and slept for the first several days after the ordeal and were kept separated from the rest of the dogs in the home. To this day, Analee will still sometimes wake up crying in the middle of the night, but it’s far less frequent. In the beginning it was every single night, and her foster dad would curl up on the floor with her to help calm her. The girls are slowly earning to play and run and frolic with their brothers and sisters. They are cuddling and sleeping under blankets and being spoiled like they always should have been. They are being adopted by their foster family as soon as they are spayed, and we could not be happier.
There were a number of people that defended this man in his actions as many had been duped into buying dogs form him int he past not knowing the horrors that were on the back of the property. Some people refuse to admit they are wrong and defended his keeping of 116 dogs saying he needed that many to protect the pack and to fend off coyotes. The irony there is that if he only had a couple dogs and they lived inside home, there would be no need for such a thing. GDR is a small rescue consisting of foster homes only with the very rare boarded dog in situations like this. We care for a maximum of 20 dogs at a time, and with all their various medical needs and personalities even that can be difficult at times and there are 4 of us on the board with numerous fosters and volunteers. For one man to properly care for 116 dogs is absolutely impossible. 20 or so dogs died after the bust while in rescue awaiting their release. Their injuries and health were so poor, they could not make it until the court date 4 months later.
We applaud the Judge’s decision to release these dogs to Chester County and can finally sleep easy knowing they will get the love and care that they have always deserved.
Related News Articles:
Judge rules Chester County will keep 101 Dobermans
Judge deciding fate of 100-plus Dobermans
Are any of these dogs available for adoption?
I would love to adopt one of the dobies you have. I do have a big beautiful red Dobie male, 4ys old.I also have 2 tiny fur babies Chi’s. I have 10 acres with a huge back yard. Please contact me if at all possible. Dewbis18@gmail.com, or 931 209 6007. Thanks Debbie Godwin
Would be interested in a fawn puppy
Are any of these still available
My husband is a cancer patient and I would love to get him one
I was made aware of the bust the day it happened. I tried desperately to rescue one or more of the digs but the Sheriff’s dept wouldn’t talk to me, stating the dogs were “impounded” until the court case had been settled. Who can I talk to about rescuing one of the survivors? I am an experienced owner of Doberman (40+ years) who would live to give one of these babies a wonderful forever home.
Hi Samantha. What you were told is correct, the dogs were held at ours and other rescue facilities while we waited for the court to decide what to do about them. They did ultimately surrender them to the shelter, and the shelter surrendered them to the rescues. 3 of our 4 were adopted by their fosters, and the 4th was adopted shortly after officially becoming ours, so we don’t have any available for adoption. You can check with Tennessee Doberman Rescue +, Illinois Doberman Rescue +, and Doberman Underground to see if they still have any Dobermans in rescue.
We are looking for another Doberman, we got out Rocky from Hung’s in 2010 ,he only weighed 19 lbs,and passed weighing 136 lbs, he was our beautiful “Secretariat” he loved playing frisbee and to run in the backyard, OMG, that baby could run, he lived a fun lovable life until the age of 7, we lost “Our Beautiful 4 legged son to health issue. I absolutely miss him everyday, I never knew anything about Doberman’s, but Our Rocky educated me- I would rescue them all if I had a farm, unfortunately our property is .75 acres, house is almost 3000 sq ft. We also have a Shih Tzu and cat (Bombay) they grew up with Rocky. Our little (Shih Tzu) Buster is so lonely and needs a friend. They were best buddies. Our Bombay (Sammy), did his own thing, would cuddle with Buster and Rocky some, but not much. Please let me know if you have any that need an absolutely loving Family- we have a lot of love to give. I do want to tell you, I wasn’t comfortable when we went to Hung’s, I just had a vibe, but thought maybe I was wrong, a friend had turned us to Hung’s because he got his pup pup’s from him. I am for the first time reading this and in a little shock, that I should have never doubted my first instinct. I contacted Hung’s last year after the passing our baby, Rocky(The Doberman) we got from him- he promised to let me know when the next litter happened, claimed to be crying after reading what I wrote to him, now I don’t believe him.. Please I promise that if you ever feel the need to visit to make sure that we have a loving home for another 4 legged kid, you have an open door. I will give your more info on the conversation I had with Hung (Jordan Johnson) after the passing of Our Rocky, if you need it. Also, just to say, what got me when we went and got our Rocky, his license plate tags were out of date by a year and he gave of 10 big hotdogs to feed to our 19 lb pup- I throw those hotdogs out the window on the way home- he was wet and cold when we got him, I had a blanket in our trunk and wrapped him up he licked me and laid in my lap from Swansea SC to Ladson SC, we stop got him so dry puppy food (BLUES) and Jordan Johnson, told us to get Calf’s milk, that he loved that and we did do that, Rock Rock loved his milk. I will close for now- but there is so much more. Thanks, in advance for listening.
Hi Barbara, I was reading your comments and interested because we had also gotten a wonderful dog from this breeder many years ago, the conditions at that time were nothing like what was described in 2016. We also lost her to wobblers syndrome at about 6-7 years old and was wondering if you lost her to same? just wanted to know if it was a possible genetic issue. thank you
barbara may I ask what health condition Rocky had? We had gotten a dog from this kennel in 2004 and the conditions then were nothing as described. At about the same age she developed wobblers syndrome and I was wondering if there was a genetic link? She was a wonderful dog and all that could be done for her was. Considering getting another now from a reputable breeder.
Am looking for large male black and tan. Just lost my twelve year old pair of Dobermen. Have acreage, young sheperd pup and a fat chihauhuaa 803 786-2338 Blythewood SC
Am looking for a pair of Dobermans to replace my beloved Dobies of twelve years. I prefer natural hound ears. Are any of the pups available for adoption? Bhite662@gmail.com or 803 786-2338. Ihave twelve acres fenced. Both will be neutered. Am looking for new best buds
Hi Betty, you can see all of our current Dobermans available for adoption here: http://www.georgiadobermanrescue.com/adopt/our-dogs/
If there is one you are interested in, you can click the “apply to adopt” button to submit an application. We typically respond in 24-48 hours.
Am interested in adopting a male and female. I prefer natural hound ears. They would be neutered Bshite662@gmail.com or 803 786-2338.
There is a Doberman Breeder in Chester Carolina. The AKC website and following SC website is .
Is this the breeder you are talking about? Or…did you just destroy a person, family and condemn innocent dogs by your semi-anonymous, fact void and emotionally inspired condemnation?
Hi Walter. We linked to 2 articles at the end of our post that verify all of the claims we made in our post, so I would hardly call it fact-void. Emotional? Sure. Rescue is generally emotional since we spend our time taking in and rehabilitating dogs that are not always, but sometimes damaged by the humans that had them prior. Seeing a dog cower and wet itself at the sight of a regular doorway, no matter the circumstances that caused his fear be it lack of socialization, abuse or simply bad breeding and poor temperament, is simply heartbreaking. We call out the specific breeder responsible for the cruelty charges and guilty verdict more than once in the article. The conditions were so bad that a court in a state not usually known for siding with the dogs, did so. If you would like, I can provide you with additional articles about the situation and you can search the court records and read the report for yourself. We were told not to post the photos of the property or the other dogs t taken at the time of the seizure, which is why you won’t see any of those here.
All of us here at GDR support the ethical and reputable breeding of Dobermans. Without them, our breed would not exist. What we do not support is the senseless breeding of Dobermans that is typically fueled by greed, laziness, and/or ignorance. They are the people that create the dogs that end up in our rescue, and those are the people we cannot and do not support. We support the breeders that health test and title their dogs, that screen their adopters to make sure they did their homework on the breed, and always take their dogs back no matter what the reason.
Jordan Johnson ruined his own reputation with what he did and was charged for, we were simply there to clean up his mess and make the public aware of the work we do.
Any dobermans hard to place.
Wether they refuse to eat, run away . I have had these animals take to me and would be willing to check out your pet.
This is a personal replacement not for any other reason.
I have over 12 acres.
Thankyou
Hi Douglas! if you are interested in adopting one of our rescue Dobermans we will need you to complete an application, which you can do here: https://awo.petstablished.com/adoptions/personal-information?application_type=Adopt&donation_section=false&form_id=359&form_type=generic&generic_form_id=359&pet_id=41533§ion=1&selected_pets=false
This helps us learn more about you and connect you with the Doberman that is best for you! if you have any questions, please feel free to reach out!
My husband and i were blessed to have SMOKE join our family. Having been involved with Dobermans since 1976 there is much that is disturbing outrageous and just sad reflection of humans especially Doberman community. Jordan an ignorant troubled individual the least my concerns. There is an e group with thousands belonging i found when he came home to us. It had a thread titled THE TROUBLE WITH HUNGS KENNELS words that effect. It had been started 7 yes seven years prior. They pontificated discussed Hungs for 7 years all of this. Nobody did anything That improved the lot of these dogs anyway. Nobody. Everybody jumped on when bust happened.Our SMOKE could have been spared. Mike my husband is gone now. SMOKE and i reside in the city 5th floor housing for elderly. He is 5 looks 9 so poorly bred over angulated degree its a chore to lie down. Tho he loves me SMOKE adored Mike. It was one hit too much. Muzzle went gray 2 weeks. Wailed 2 weeks solid gradually subsiding to once in a while now He does what he did from jump. Sleeps whenever cant deal
Oh so much i could say. Im just too tired this nite and sad all nights we miss Mike. My main lament – i dont hold Jordan responsible. The Doberman community is.
I know it. They know it. And SMOKE knows it.
bryanne Ineson
Concord NH
For the record. This post says 3:49 actually the time is 11:53
bryanne Ineson
Doberman rescues are not able to intervene in the way a county shelter can. Local animal control is the only one who can truly intervene. Many individuals tried to help Hung Kennels, and while we rescues knew he was a deplorable backyard breeder, we had no idea that he had over a hundred Dobermans starving on his property. Animal control had been called in the past, but where he kept the 100+ Dobermans was hidden further back on his property so no one saw it. It wasn’t until some Dobermans escaped through a hole in the fence that anyone found out. When animal control seized the dogs as part of the cruelty case, it was the first time anyone in the Doberman rescue community could legally do anything. The shelter asked us for help and rescues across the country jumped into action. I’m sorry you feel we didn’t do enough to prevent this tragedy but the only person here who should be blamed is Jordan and Hung Kennels as he was very much responsible for his own actions. Disturbed or not, he continued to sell and profit off of these dogs while they died on his property. We have little sympathy for his situation as we and the others in rescue spent countless hours teaching these dogs to trust and witnessing the long-lasting effects of his treatment.